"This is Congress Radio calling on 42.34 metres from somewhere in India", a 22-year-old girl's voice reverberated through the radio on August 14, 1942. Usha Mehta, a revolutionary figure in the Indian Independence struggle, developed a secretive radio station in India during British rule. It broadcasted patriotic speeches and news across the country.
On August 8, 1942, when Gandhiji was delivering the famous "Do or Die" speech, Mehta and her colleagues developed the station and it helped intensify the feeling of unity among the public. In a 1969 interview she said, " When the press is gagged and all news banned, a transmitter certainly helps a good deal in furnishing the public with the facts of the happenings and in spreading the message of rebellion." On August 14, she and her colleagues went on a live broadcast of Gandhiji's announcement on the Quit India campaign and later, his arrest by the British. The location for the broadcast was confidential.
The broadcasts were in both English and Indian languages daily in the morning and evening. During that period she was a political science student at Wilson College in Bombay (now Mumbai). The famous Jamshedpur working labourer's strike from the Tata Iron and Steel Company was also reported from the station. "When the newspapers dared not touch upon these subjects under the prevailing conditions, it was only the Congress Radio which could defy the orders and tell the people what actually was happening," Mehta said.
After a technician betrayed their confidential locality, Mehta and her colleagues were caught on November 12, 1942. More than 50 officers charged to the spot and arrested them and Mehta was jailed until 1946. "I came back from jail a happy and, to an extent, a proud person, because I had the satisfaction of carrying out Bapu's message, 'Do or Die', she said.
Usha Mehta was born on March 25, 1920, in Saras, Gujarat to Gheliben Mehta, a homemaker and Hariprasad Mehta, a district-level judge. Her father's involvement in the Indian National Congress made her to be a part of the movement. She never married and had no children.
She earned a Ph.D. in Gandhian Thought from the University of Bombay and for 30 years, she served as a professor of political science at Wilson College. She was the President of the Gandhi Peace Foundation and in 1998, India honoured her Padma Vibhushan. She died on August 11, 2000, at the age of 80.
The Bollywood film, based on her life, Ae Watan Mere Watan, is set to release on March 21. In the leading role is Sara Ali Khan (as Usha Mehta), who is notable for her appearances in Kedarnath (2018), Love Aaj Kal (2020) and the latest Murder Mubarak (2024).
The movie is directed and co-written by Kannan Iyer, who was the writer of Victory (2009) and the director of Ek Thi Daayan (2013), and produced by Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, and Somen Mishra. Apart from Khan, the movie also stars Alexx O'Nell, Emraan Hashmi and Abhay Verma. The movie is set to start streaming on Amazon Prime Video March 21 onwards.
